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[h=1]Ex-England star sacked as manager after foul-mouthed rant at fans[/h] Published 00:00 13/12/11 By Laurie Hanna - EXCLUSIVE

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...foul-mouthed-rant-at-fans-article842406.html#
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Former England goalkeeper Ian Walker has left his job as manager of a non-League club after an alleged foul-mouthed rant at his own fans.
The 40-year-old had only been in charge of Bishop's Stortford since March, but departed "by mutual consent" after his side lost 5-0 in the FA Trophy on Saturday.
During a furious row with supporters during the game, Walker is alleged to have called them "uneducated c***s".
He is also alleged to have told some to "f*** off".

The FA Trophy loss to Carshalton Athletic followed a run of seven league games without a win.
The club is now near the bottom of the Conference North table, which is two divisions below League Two.
A source said: "There were some disgraceful scenes. Some fans were having a go at him because they were frustrated and disappointed by how the team were playing. But for him to respond like that is totally out of order."
On a Bishop's Stortford supporters' website, one angry fan with the username "Gareth/Garf" wrote: "Saturday was a sorry episode in BSFC's history.
"To have a manager even trading insults is shocking, but for him to repeatedly use the c-word against our fans is totally *unacceptable." Another fan, "ladderman", wrote on the site: "Walker says I'm a c***. I say WALKER OUT."
"Youngbsfcfan97" posted: "I'm now not a fan of Walker as he did call me an ‘uneducated c***' which was unnecessary."
When first contacted, a spokesman for the former Tottenham Hotspur star said: "He actually called them ‘uneducated t***s'."
But he later said he had been misinformed and denied any bad language.
He added: "Ian was taking a lot of abuse from fans behind the dugout. They were calling him the c-word and all kinds of derogatory names.
"Ian turned round and said to one, ‘Oh you're very clever. Did you think that up yourself?' Ian Walker did not use the c-word or use any derogatory words to fans."
Walker helped win the League Cup medal for Spurs in 1999, and was capped four times for England during his 17-year career. Since retiring in 2008, he has also worked as a commentator.
A spokesman for Bishop's Stortford refused to comment on the supporters' claims.
A statement on the club's official website said: "Bishop's Stortford FC have announced the immediate departure of manager Ian Walker by mutual consent."
Chief executive Franco Del Basso said: "I would like to place on record my thanks to Ian for his endeavours for the club and wish him well for the future."

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[h=1]Cole 'taunted Man City players after defeat'[/h] Published 23:38 12/12/11 By Neil McLeman


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Roberto Mancini accused Ashley Cole of taunting Manchester City in the tunnel after Chelsea ended their unbeaten start to the Premier League season.
Frank Lampard came off the bench to score the late winner from the spot to put the London club back in the title race.
And Mancini, who saw his full-back Gael Clichy sent off, claimed the emotional Chelsea celebrations spilled over into the tunnel at the end of a high-octane encounter.
"I don't know what he said," said the Italian. "I didn't understand it.

"But if the Chelsea players are saying we are a top team, for us that is important. There were really lively because they beat a top team. It's normal. It's important for them."
Lampard admitted: "Big players want to win things, on both sides there was a bit of frustration. Sometimes you get overheated after the game."
But Blues boss Andres Villas-Boas said of Mancini's claims: "It's not true and it is not fair. But it doesn't matter now."
Chelsea have now recorded three huge wins in nine days to make the knockout stages of the Champions League and close the gap on leaders City to seven points.
"It was a very gratifying win," said the Portuguese coach. "It has been a good week for us and I think it changes our challenge for the Premier League.
"Seven points in this league, with so many teams competing for the title, is nothing. There are a lot of games to be played."
Mario Balotelli gave City the lead after only two minutes during a blistering start before Raul Meireles equalised after 33 minutes.
But Mancini was furious referee for denying David Silva a first-half penalty after a foul by Jose Boswinga - and then for sending off Gael Clichy after the break.
"After the sending off, the game totally changed," claimed the Manchester City boss. "There wasn't anyone in the stadium who didn't see it apart from the referee. How did he miss it? Because it was raining.
"We dominated the game. It's unusual that a team comes here and does that. The defeat changes nothing for us. We lost one game but it is a very long, hard season. We didn't deserve to lose but it is finished now."
Nicolas Anelka has joined Shanghai Shenhua and Didier Drogba has received offers from two Chinese Super League sides. But Lampard insisted he will see out the 18 months left on his contract despite again starting as a sub.
After scoring his 178th goal for Chelsea, the England midfielder said: "I'm not used to not playing - I want to play and I'm at my best when I play. I was in a good run of form, scoring regularly, playing well and now I'm in and out.

"What can you do? I'm 33, I understand, but I want to keep doing well and playing regularly for this club. I know I've got a lot to give.
"I've got 18 months left here and I'll be here for that long trying my hardest.
"We needed to win to stay in the title race. Ten points is a huge gap and luckily we have closed that."

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[h=1]Manchester United's Darren Fletcher out indefinitely with illness[/h] • Scotland captain diagnosed with ulcerative colitis
• Midfielder will take an 'extended break' from football





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Darren Fletcher has been forced to take an 'extended break' from football as he battles with ulcerative colitis. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Manchester United have suffered another serious setback in their defence of the Premier League title amid fears at Old Trafford that Darren Fletcher's career is on the line because of the health issues that have ruled him out for the season and left Sir Alex Ferguson with a gaping hole in his midfield.
Fletcher is taking what United have described as an "extended break" after doctors warned him he was putting his health at serious risk by continuing to play despite the rare bowel condition that has affected him for the last year.
United are so concerned about the health of the Scotland international captain they have been unable to put any timescale on how long he will need out of the game, or even guarantee that he will be able to resume his career.
Until now, the champions have attributed Fletcher's spells out of the team to a mystery virus, but the club have now disclosed they did this purely "to respect his right to medical confidentiality" and, with the player's consent, released more details in a statement that makes clear the seriousness of the issue.
"Darren has, in fact, been suffering from ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel condition, for some time preceding this [last year]," the statement said. "While he was able to maintain remission of symptoms for a considerable period, this has proved more difficult recently and Darren's continued desire to play and his loyalty to both his club and country has probably compromised the chances of optimising his health and fitness.
"He has therefore accepted medical advice to take an extended break from the demands of training and playing in order to afford himself the best chance possible of achieving full remission once again."
The news comes within a week of United's elimination from the Champions League coinciding with Nemanja Vidic rupturing his cruciate knee ligaments, an injury that will keep the club captain out for a minimum nine months. United do, however, have cover in the centre of defence whereas Fletcher's absence threatens to be a considerable blow given Ferguson's already significant problems in midfield.
Anderson has been ruled out until February with a knee problem, while Tom Cleverley will be missing until January with an ankle injury, and the club's failure to bring in the top-quality central midfielder that Ferguson wanted in the summer has led to Phil Jones and Wayne Rooney both being tried in the position.
United had tried, and failed, to sign Wesley Sneijder from Internazionale and Samir Nasri from Arsenal, and the club now have little option but to consider going into the January transfer market. Ferguson stated last Friday that he had "nothing in mind at the moment" but the issue is now so serious it is almost inconceivable that he will not at least look at potential targets.
Uppermost in Ferguson's thoughts, however, is the seriousness of Fletcher's condition and the feeling behind the scenes at Old Trafford that he needs to put his health first, whatever the ramifications for his employers. United rarely release public statements about player injuries or medical conditions and the fact they felt willing to break this policy is another demonstration of how grave their concerns are for a 27-year-old who should be at the peak of his game.
Fletcher, who has made 302 appearances for United and won 58 international caps, has looked noticeably gaunt at times and, in other moments, his face has appeared bloated because of the drugs he has been prescribed. He missed six months of action earlier this year but has always maintained before now that he did not know what the illness was. "I felt drained and weak and was bed-bound for a bit," he said in September. "The biggest thing was losing the weight. The virus was bad but for someone like me to lose the weight I did, it was really difficult to put back on."
United have gone public after a deterioration in his condition last week led to more medical tests. Fletcher was an unused substitute in the 2-1 defeat at Basel but had complained of feeling weak and was unable to train on Friday. "We request that his privacy is respected and hope that the removal of the additional stress associated with speculation regarding his health will also aid his recovery," United said.
[h=2]What is ulcerative colitis?
[/h]Dr Ian Arnott is a leading specialist in ulcerative colitis. He is a consultant gastroenterologist at the Western General hospital in Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians' associate director for the UK-wide, NHS-funded inflammatory bowel disease audit.
"Ulcerative colitis can be a very disabling condition and leaves people weak, tired, frustrated and lacking energy. It can change people's lives completely. They can't be very far from the toilet so aren't able to go out very much. Patients tell me that when they go to a nearby town or city, they know exactly where every toilet is, because they often get very little warning about needing to go to the toilet. It can mean that people have accidents with their bowel motions. It's an embarrassing condition - it's a difficult subject to talk to people about.
"It is a serious inflammation of the large bowel, which is better-known as the colon. Where it should be pink, smooth and nice it becomes red, weepy and unhappy - it looks like you've taken the skin off your knee. The main symptoms are diarrhea, blood in stools, stomach pains and feeling rotten. It goes up and down. You will have good periods of remission when you feel normal - that can be a month or even a few years - and bad periods when you feel dreadful and can be forced to go to the toilet six, eight or ten times a day around the clock, including two or three times a night. If you can imagine having food poisoning and that going on for weeks on end, rather than days, that's what it's like.
"It's quite a common condition. If you take ulcerative colitis together with Crohn's disease, which has similar symptoms, they are known together as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). One in 200 people in the UK develop IBD, so around 300,000 have that. Young people aged between ten and 40 get it.
"It's not a curable condition unless you have an operation. With surgery you take the colon out completely. People often need an external bag to collect their faeces, though some people get an internal pouch which lets them go to the toilet normally. So you wouldn't have surgery unless you had to. However, one-third of patients end up having an operation to remove their colon at some point in their lives.

"The cause of colitis is unknown. It's genetic to some extent, but less than with Crohn's disease, but something unknown in the environment comes along and sets it off. It could be food, atmospheric pollution or stress - no one really knows what it is. It could be all of them."

Interview by Denis Campbell




 
[h=1]Arsène Wenger will buy in January if 'opportunity turns up' for Arsenal[/h] • Manager could bring in striker as back-up to Robin van Persie
• Gervinho and Chamakh set for Africa Cup of Nations





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Arsène Wenger will be short of attacking options when Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh go to the Africa Cup of Nations. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters

Arsène Wenger has admitted he could be tempted into the transfer market in January if "an opportunity turns up".
Arsenal have turned their season around following seven wins from their last eight Premier League matches, to move back into contention for the top four. Much of that success has been built on the 19 goals of Robin van Persie but with the Ivory Coast forward Gervinho and the Morocco striker Marouane Chamakh both set to be away at the Africa Cup of Nations early next year, Wenger accepts his back-up options will be stretched.
"We lose players like Chamakh and Gervinho to the Africa Cup of Nations so hopefully, touch wood, we do not get any injuries to our strikers. But if an opportunity turns up in that department then we will buy," Wenger told a supporters' Q&A at the Emirates Stadium.
The Arsenal manager, however, feels the current financial climate is "a bit special". Wenger continued: "Economically the whole environment has changed and people suffer more. The clubs will suffer more financially and it's much more difficult. Maybe we will have some opportunities because we are in a good financial situation."

Although both Park Chu-young and Andrey Arshavin also offer attacking options, Wenger may look to bring in more like-for-like cover, with FC Köln's Lukas Podolski one possibility if the price was right. The Sochaux midfielder Kévin Anin is also said to be on Wenger's radar, along with Anderlecht's Luca Biglia.

Biglia's representative, Enzo Montepaone, told calciomercato.com: "Fiorentina's interest is real, but Arsenal also like him a lot. Italy has always been his dream and, as he holds an Italian passport, a move to Italy is very likely. It is, however, important to pay attention to Arsenal."




 
[h=1] Wednesday's gossip column - transfers and rumours
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For updated transfer news and gossip throughout the day, read our breaking news service Sportsday Live
TRANSFER GOSSIP
Chelsea are ready to cut their losses on out-of-form striker Fernando Torres and will accept an offer of £20m for the Spaniard in January. Their valuation represents a loss of £30m on the fee they paid Liverpool in January of this year.
Full story: Daily Mail
Juventus are ready to loan Serbia winger Milos Krasic to injury-hit Manchester United until the end of the season.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Atletico Madrid are keen on bringing in out-of-favour Chelsea winger Florent Malouda once they have offloaded former Arsenal forward Jose Antonio Reyes to Turkish side Galatasaray.
Full story: Inside Futbol
AC Milan's Taye Taiwo has emerged as the potential answer to Arsenal's full-back shortage.
Full story: Metro
Manchester City are ready to pounce for Chelsea's England Under-16 international Conor Hunte, who could leave Stamford Bridge for a nominal fee in the summer.
Full story: talkSPORT
Juventus are keen to sell reserve striker Amauri to Tottenham in January. The 31-year-old can leave on a free transfer in the summer.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Spurs midfielder Sandro could be on his way out of White Hart Lane, with his agent refusing to rule out the possibility of one of "many" expressions of interest in his client turning into a move to Italy.
Full story: talkSPORT
Newcastle are reportedly interested in Guingamp winger Anthony Knockaert and could make a move in January.
Full story: Footylatest
Bolton are already preparing for life after Gary Cahill with New York Red Bulls' American international Tim Ream lined up as a replacement for their much-coveted centre-back.
Full story: Daily Mail

OTHER GOSSIP
A taunt of "Thursday night, Channel 5" - a reference to Manchester City's elimination from the Champions League - from Ashley Cole sparked a confrontation between Chelsea and City players in the tunnel after the Blues' 2-1 win on Monday.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Newcastle full-back Danny Simpson has turned down an improved contract offer but will not be allowed to move to QPR or Aston Vila during the transfer window.
Full story: Evening Chronicle
Talented Everton youngster Ross Barkley has admitted he is frustrated with his lack of first-team opportunities at Goodison Park but says he still has faith in manager David Moyes to oversee his development.
Full story: Liverpool Echo
AND FINALLY
Manchester City players enjoyed a fancy-dress Christmas party just hours after losing their unbeaten Premier League record at Chelsea, visiting a London nightclub as popular cartoon characters including Batman, Iron Man and Where's Wally.
Full story: Metro
 
[h=1]Chelsea will take £20m for Torres (report)[/h] Published 23:14 13/12/11 By MirrorFootball

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/tra...nuary-according-to-report-article842668.html#
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Chelsea are ready to take a £30million bath on Fernando Torres and sell the striker in January, according to a report.
The story claims the Blues initially wanted to loan the out-of-form ex-Liverpool hero out in the hope he'd rediscover his scoring touch, but are now prepared to let him go altogether for around £20m.
Less than a year ago, the Londoners, then managed by Carlo Ancelotti, paid a British record £50m to bring Torres to Stamford Bridge.
Ancelotti was fired at the end of last season and Torres, who has scored just three league goals for Chelsea, has failed to win a place in the side under new boss Andre Villas-Boas.

***
Find out what Robbie Savage thinks of this issue and more on our LIVE vodcast at 11am tomorrow (14/12/11)
Read more:
Watch video proof that Justin Bieber is better than Fernando Torres!
EXCLUSIVE: We reveal what Ashley Cole said to spark Man City tunnel spat
Lampard orders extra bread and butter wins
Chelsea are playing happy families - Mata

Mata backs 'legend' Lampard to win back his place

No Chelsea bid for £12m-rated Vargas - agent
What are the odds Lampard is on the Chelsea bench again at Wigan? Derek McGovern's Bets of the Day


 
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[TD="class: createdate"] Tuesday, 13 December 2011 20:02 [/TD]
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Jessca Nangawe
BARAZA la Vyama vya Mpira wa Miguu Afrika Mashariki na Kati (Cecafa) limekiri kuingia hasara baada ya kuingiza shilingi 267 milioni kwenye michuano ya Chalenji iliyomalizika mwishoni mwa wiki iliyopita.

Jumla ya mechi 26 zilicheza katika uwanja wa Taifa kuanzia Novemba 25 hadi Desemba 10, huku mchezo mmoja tu kati ya Somalia na Uganda ukichezwa katika Uwanja wa Azam wa Chamazi.

Afisa habari wa Shirikisho soka la Tanzania, TFF, Boniface Wambura alisema michuano ya mwaka huu ilikuwa na msisimko mdogo kulinganisha na mwaka jana.
Tanzania kufanya vibaya tangu mwanzo wa mashindano ilikuwa moja ya sababu za mashabiki kupungua uwanjani.

Alisema hatua ya makundi ya michuano hiyo iliingiza sh. 145,613,000, robo fainali (sh. 58,470,000), nusu fainali (sh. 55,787,000) wakati fainali iliingiza sh. 17,196,000.

Mechi iliyoingiza mapato makubwa ni ya ufunguzi kati ya Tanzania na Rwanda ambapo zilipatikana sh. 64,178,000, wakati mapato madogo zaidi (sh. 446,000) zilipatikana kwenye mechi kati ya Uganda na Somalia iliyochezwa Novemba 28 kwenye Uwanja wa Azam.

"Mechi iliyokuwa na washabiki wengi zaidi ni kati ya Tanzania na Rwanda ambapo waliingia 23,946, wakati iliyoingiza wachache (446) ilikuwa kati ya Somalia na Uganda," alisema Wambura.

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[h=1]No Chelsea bid for £12m-rated Vargas - agent[/h] Published 17:07 13/12/11 By MirrorFootball

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/tra...-Chile-striker-says-agent-article842556.html#
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Chelsea have made no formal offer for Chilean forward Eduardo Vargas, according to the player's agent.
The Universidad de Chile star, 22, has been linked with a January move to Stamford Bridge, as well as reportedly attracting the attention of Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Napoli.
Having agreed terms for Nicolas Anelka to join Shanghai Shenhua when the transfer window opens, Chelsea may choose to dip into the market next month, especially with Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou due to play in the African Cup of Nations.
Vargas, who's been dubbed the new Alexis Sanchez, has been most heavily linked with Chelsea and his agent, Mark Griffiths, told calciomercato.it: "He's definitely a player that is attracting a lot of interest.

"Has there been an official offer from Chelsea? Their chief scout in South America is Chilean, Jorge Alvial, so it is expected that the best players from his country will be linked with the Blues.
"However, we have not received an official offer from London. Maybe they will bid in the future, but to date there is nothing.
"That is the same for all the European teams.
"A valuation of 10million euros (£8.5m) I think it could be higher than that, maybe around 12million-14million euros (£10m-12m).
"Vargas as the next Sanchez? Comparisons have been made, but I think in some ways he is even better than the Barcelona player, because he scores more goals."
 
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Kalunde Jamal
KAMATI ya Ufundi ya Shirikisho la Soka Tanzania (TFF),itahakiki vyeti vya Kocha wa Simba, Milovan Cirkovic ili kuona kama anastahili kuifundisha timu hiyo duru la pili wa Ligi Kuu Bara.Katibu Mkuu wa TFF, Angetile Osiah alisema jana kuwa Kamati imepokea vyeti hivyo jana na kitakachofuata ni kuvihakiki ukweli wake.

Angetile alisema utaratibu unataka kocha yeyote anayefundisha Ligi Daraja la kwanza na Ligi Kuu kuwasilisha vyeti vyake ili kuthibitisha kama anakidhi viwango husika.Alifafanuwa kuwa huu ni utaratibu ambao upo siku zote hata kwa kocha Moses Basena ambaye hakuleta vyeti vyake na ilikuwa asiinoe Simba kwenye mzunguko wa pili.

"Huu ni utaratibu wa kawaida ila tatizo ni kwamba, viongozi wa klabu huleta makocha kinyemela," alisema Angetile na kutolea mfano kocha wa Simba, Moses Basena ambaye alishindwa kuleta vyeti vyake.

"TFF isingekubali Basena aendelee kuifundisha Simba mzunguko wa pili bila kuleta vyeti halisi vya taaluma yake na kuvithibisha," alisema Osiah.Osiah alisema endapo Kamati ya Ufundi itaona mapungufu vyeti vya Milovan, itavirudisha ili vifanyiwe marekebisho ndipo aruhusiwe.

"Haya mapungufu yameonekana kama utaratibu wa kawaida kwa klabu nyingi, lakini sasa tunataka kuona hayatokei tena," alisema zaidi Osiah. [/TD]
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[h=1] Thursday's gossip column - transfers and rumours [/h]

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For updated transfer news and gossip throughout the day, read our breaking news service Sportsday Live
TRANSFER GOSSIP
Manchester United youngster Paul Pogba is set to reject a chance to sign a new contract and open talks about a Bosman move to Inter Milan.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Meanwhile, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is readying a bid for Roma contract rebel Daniele De Rossi.
Full story: Caught Offside
Tottenham midfielder Vedran Corluka could be heading to Roma in January, with his agent set to sit down with Spurs and sort out his future in the coming days.
Full story: Talk Sport
Spartak Moscow are ready to go head to head with Queens Park Rangers for Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko.
Full story: Metro
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has rubbished rumours of David Villa being sold to Liverpool, Chelsea or Aston Villa.
Full story: Metro
Wolfsburg manager Felix Magath is keen to sign Arsenal's Czech star Tomas Rosicky in January.
Full story: Inside Futbol
Sunderland will look to buy a striker in January after discovering they cannot recall Asamoah Gyan from his season-long loan at UAE club Al Ain.
Full story: Daily Mirror
AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi has warned Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez not to put the money available at Paris Saint-Germain ahead of the glory on the menu at the San Siro.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has admitted he would love to bring Tevez to White Hart Lane - but concedes that a January move for the Blues outcast is unlikely.
Full story: Daily Mail
Meanwhile, Tevez has told Argentine magazine Gente he is fed up of travelling and will never be returning to England once he leaves City because he wants to play for Boca Juniors.
Full story: Gente (in Spanish)

OTHER GOSSIP
West Brom defender Jonas Olsson has revealed he has reservations about extending his contract despite starting talks over a new deal.
Full story: Daily Express
The Baggies have earmarked £4m Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha as a replacement.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has made it clear in-form striker Steven Fletcher is not for sale.
Full story: Express and Star
AND FINALLY
Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and other stars of yesteryear dusted off their boots for a charity match in Hamburg that also involved current Premier League star Didier Drogba.
Full story: Metro
 



[h=1]Juventus prepare £21m bid for Manchester City's Carlos Tevez[/h] • Juventus ready to trump Milan and PSG offers
• Manchester City want £25m for Carlos Tevez




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Carlos Tevez's reputation has suffered during his prolonged absence from Manchester City's team. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

Juventus have opened formal talks with Manchester City to sign Carlos Tevez in the form of a series of telephone calls direct to Roberto Mancini from Pavel Nedved, a key director for the Italian club.
Nedved, the former Czech Republic international, has spoken to Mancini several times to instigate discussions about the Argentina international. The Serie A club have proposed a £21m package but City are hopeful they can get more than that in the face of rival interest from Milan and Paris St-Germain.
Tevez's preference would be to join Milan but all they have proposed is a loan deal to the end of the season, leading to a possible £17.2m move next summer. Milan's vice-president, Adriano Galliani, said on Wednesday night that "offer is final" but City are adamant they will not entertain the idea of a loan and there is scepticism at the Etihad Stadium about whether Milan have the financial power to return with a suitable offer.
PSG certainly have the money, backed by Qatari owners, but so far they, too, have not come up with an offer good enough to tempt the City chairman, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, to sell a player who has been on strike since flying to Argentina without permission on 8 November.
Mubarak wants to get a fee of around £25m and is willing to hold out for that figure despite City's eagerness to get Tevez off their books and lose the £250,000-a-week salary he earns via a contract that stipulates he is always the club's best-paid player. After that City's lawyers will look at what action can be taken against Tevez for allegedly breaching his contract, although what that will entail is not yet clear.
A complicated picture was further clouded on Wednesday night by Tevez saying he potentially wants to stay in Argentina. He told the magazine Gente in his homeland that he would like to "go to pre-season with Boca [Juniors] and play Libertadores with them". That tournament runs from late January to early July.
"I don't care if I lose money," Tevez was quoted as saying. "I'm tired of travelling and going back and forth. I'm not coming back to England." Boca, though, are unlikely to be able to meet City's asking price.
Tevez's talk of remaining in Argentina comes despite his adviser, Kia Joorabchian, trying to get him a move to one of Europe's leading clubs. Joorabchian has been to Milan for a meeting with Galliano and City's belief is that the player's financial terms have been agreed. That will be of no use, however, unless Milan can demonstrate they have the money to accede to City's wishes to arrange a permanent deal.
Instead Juventus have led City to believe they do have the financial clout at a time when the Turin club are top of Serie A and going for a record 28th championship.
That may constitute a surprise considering that Juventus are no longer known for their vast expenditure – their transfer record is still the £32.6m they paid to sign the goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon from Parma in 2001 – and they would almost certainly have to break what has until now been a tight wage structure, with several of their higher earners re-signing on lower salaries.
Their manager, Antonio Conte, already has seven strikers and five wingers in his squad but Nedved has assured Mancini that the interest is serious and further talks will be held to try to reach a compromise fee. Tevez is aware he will have to take a substantial pay cut to get a new club, possibly slashing his wages by more than half.
The alternative is that his career continues to go to waste. Tevez has not played since a Carling Cup tie against Birmingham City on 23 September and his reputation within the game has suffered serious damage because of the dispute about his refusal to take Mancini's instructions when he was required as a substitute in the Champions League tie against Bayern Munich four days later.

For that Tevez was fined four weeks' wages, only for the Professional Footballers' Association to intervene and refuse to relax its guidelines stipulating that a two-week fine is the maximum permissible unless it has approved it.
Regardless of the way he has behaved, the interest from Juventus, Milan and PSG demonstrates that the man who lifted the FA Cup for City last season is still a highly attractive player on the basis of his goals record before his relationship with Mancini broke down irreparably.





 
[h=4]Series: Football Weekly[/h] Previous | Index

[h=1] [/h]
[h=1]Football Weekly Extra podcast: is Neymar better than Lionel Messi?[/h] It's Barcelona v Santos on Sunday – so should Jimbo and the crew back Pelé's hot tip? Probably not, judging on his past form. Plus previews of the Premier League weekend and the Championship's south-coast derby









No chance of a short pod today (we've taken the batteries out of the alarm) as Sid Lowe tells Jimbo that really important thing about José Mourinho he was just about to say before we were evacuated on Monday's show.
Paolo Bandini and Paul MacInnes come to blows over who is better – Barcelona's Lionel Messi or Santos's Neymar, as their teams face each other in the World Club Championship final on Sunday.
Can Arsenal do what Napoli and Chelsea did and beat Man City? Now Fulham are focused squarely on the Premier League, what hope have Bolton got? And how will Southampton fare against Portsmouth?
Plus your comments and tweets uncover the dark truth at the heart of the Chris Hoy/Chris Foy conspiracy against Spurs fans and Gregg Roughley offers some tips on taking to the dance floor in moulded boots.
Your comments are always appreciated (and often read) – don't forget there's another European newspaper review video out on Friday.
 
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[TD="class: createdate"] Thursday, 15 December 2011 20:45 [/TD]
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kiungo wa zamani wa Simba, Jerry Santo

Sosthenes Nyoni
BAADA ya kufanikiwa kujiunga na klabu ya FK Tirana ya Albania, kiungo wa zamani wa Simba, Jerry Santo amesema wachezaji wa Tanzania hawana malengo na wanaridhika na umaarufu wa magazetini.

Santo aliyemaliza mkataba wa kuitumikia Simba, Novemba 20 mwaka huu hivi sasa yupo jijini Nairobi, Kenya akikamilisha taratibu za mwisho kabla ya kuanza kibarua kipya cha kuitumikia klabu hiyo inayoshiriki Ligi Kuu ya Albania baada ya kusaini mkataba wa miaka miwili na nusu.

Akizungumza na Mwananchi kwa simu kutokea Nairobi, Santo alisema kama sio juhudi zake binafsi, malengo, kutokata tamaa na kuwa na uthubutu kamwe asingeweza kupata mafanikio hayo ambapo aliwatahadharisha wachezaji wa Tanzania kutoridhika na umaarufu mdogo wanaoupata kwa kuandikwa magazetini badala yake waongeze juhudi.

"Mambo si mabaya kaka nashukuru Mungu nimepata klabu Ulaya kweli nina furaha kwani ni hatua nyingine kubwa kwangu.

"Jambo moja la msingi ninaloweza kuwaambia ndugu zangu hapo 'bongo' ni kwamba wasiridhike na umaarufu mdogo, utakuta mchezaji akishaandikwa kwenye magazeti yenu anaona tayari amepata mafaniko kumbe si kweli.

"Mfano mimi nilipomaliza mkataba Simba ningeweza kuendelea nao kwa sababu walikuwa bado wananihitaji, kazi yao niliifanya vizuri na tuliishi vizuri, lakini kujiwekea malengo ni muhimu katika maisha hivyo nilikataa kusaini mkataba mpya na kuondoka zangu kitu ambacho ni kigumu kwa wachezaji wa hapo Tanzania kuziacha Simba na Yanga,"alisema Santo.

Kujiunga huko kwa Jerry katika timu ya KF Tirana kunamuwezesha kukutana na Wakenya wenzake wawili James Situma na Moses Arita wanaochezea timu hiyo.

Akizungumzia programu nzima ya sasa ya kujiunga na klabu yake hiyo mpya, Santo alisema kwa sasa anashughulikia kukamilisha masuala ya vibali vyake ili kuepuka usumbufu uliowakuta mshambuliaji wa zamani wa Thika United, Moses Arita na beki wa zamani wa Sofapaka, James Situma waliochelewa kujiunga na klabu kutokana na matatizo ya masuala ya viza.

Kiungo huyo wa zamani wa Tusker anaingia kwenye kundi la nyota wa Kenya wanaocheza soka ya kulipwa barani Ulaya ambao ni nahodha wao Dennis Oliech, McDonald Mariga na Victor Wanyama.

Santo ambaye mwanzoni mwa mwaka huu alifanya majaribio na klabu ya Vietnam ya HAGL, alipoteza namba yake kwenye kikosi cha timu ya Taifa ya Kenya kwa sababu ya kuporomoka kiwango chake.

Mara ya mwisho kwa Santo kuchezea timu ya Taifa ilikuwa kabla ya mechi ya kufuzu kushiriki Kombe la Dunia dhidi ya Seychelles, wakati kocha Francis Kimanzi alipomtema. [/TD]
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[h=1]The greatest Premier League goal ever – poll[/h] There have been 19,964 goals scored in England's top flight since the Premier League was formed for the 1992-93 season. With it likely that the 20,000th goal will be struck before Christmas, the Guardian sports desk has today chosen what it considers to be the 50 best in that era. Please watch them, enjoy them, discuss them and vote for your favourite






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A goal. But was it one of the 50 best of the Premier League era? Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images



 
[h=1]Neymar has chance to justify hype against Lionel Messi's Barcelona[/h] The 19-year-old tagged the new Pelé faces a career-defining match when Santos play in Sunday's Club World Cup final




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Neymar has been linked with Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid but he agreed a new deal with Santos last month that will keep him in Brazil until the World Cup comes in 2014. Photograph: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images

If Robinho sounded almost exasperated last summer when he waded into the hype surrounding the latest Brazilian wunderkind, Neymar, it is understandable. Robinho should know better than most. He appreciates how it feels to be feted to the heavens, to be compared endlessly to Pelé, to be coveted by Europe's wealthiest suitors while those at home in Brazil clamour for you to stick around. Studied, scouted, analysed, pored over, pulled this way and that while still in his teens, Neymar's story this weekend goes under the footballing microscope in a newly sharpened way when he gets the chance to share a pitch with Lionel Messi. Yet more overblown judgments are inevitable.
It is the way of globalised football these days. It cannot be escaped. This subplot has rumbled along throughout the Club World Cup this week – the prospect of Barcelona meeting Santos in Sunday's final, and the chance to see how Neymar measures up against the most outstanding of barometers. Naturally, the Santos coach, Muricy Ramalho, has been quizzed about how his prodigy compares to Messi. "Before long he'll be the best in the world," Ramalho said. "The two are similar, but Neymar is a bit more special. His style alternates the direction of the ball as he carries it, while Messi dribbles more in a straight line. Neymar is unpredictable. You don't find anyone in the world who does what he can with the ball."
You can imagine Robinho would feel like throwing a dampener over such a statement, as he did when he gave an opinion on Neymar's "new Pelé" tag. "Every young, black player who appears at Santos is called Pelé, but people need to know how to differentiate that, because Pelé was a myth. There has not been anyone similar to Pelé nor will there be one. Another Pelé will not be born," Robinho told Globoesporte. "Each player needs to make their own history. Neymar is already making his very well." The message is clear enough: leave him be. Let him follow his own journey. Robinho has a striking CV, adorned by Real Madrid, Manchester City and Milan, but there have been awkward spells, and it remains a subject for debate as to whether he has scaled the heights expected of him at Neymar's age. Robinho is 27 now, and is finally at a point where he looks as settled and important to any team, outside of Santos.
What is interesting about Neymar's career path is how the shifting economic sands have made it possible for him, and his management, to resist the pull of Europe.
The 19-year-old was heavily linked with moves to Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea, and was an obvious target for Manchester City. But last month he agreed a new deal which keeps him at Santos until the World Cup comes to Brazil in 2014. Significantly, he is being paid a salary possibly even heftier than what he might garner from a European superpower.
It became an issue of national importance and Neymar's club came up with an imaginative way to fund the deal by enlisting contributions from major corporations, who seemed only to happy too chip in.
There is something symbolic about keeping hold of their shiniest star for the buildup to the World Cup, about blocking the current that took players such as Robinho and Ronaldinho away from Brazil by the age of 21. The boy with the punkish haircut and the swagger in his boots does not sound too regretful about staying close to his friends and family (he recently became a father) for the foreseeable future.
It will be interesting to see if the club can pull a similar trick for their playmaker Paulo Henrique Ganso, whom some rate as an even more appealing, albeit less showy, target for Europe. He is reportedly going to examine his options after this Japanese sojourn. Santos are in ambitious mood, though. So much so that their president, Luis Alvaro de Oliveira Ribeiro, has dreamed up a complicated plan to try to get Robinho back on loan for next year, the club's centenary.
Neymar demonstrated his charismatic style in the semi-final of the Club World Cup on Wednesday with a goal that reflected why he commands such attention. Receiving a pass from a team-mate with his back to goal, he swivelled, dropped a shoulder, nudged the ball past a befuddled defender to breeze into space, then switched feet to bend his shot in from long range. "I was going to shoot at first, but then I saw the defender coming in too fast, so I changed. I improvised at the end," he said. Easy as pie.
Santos scored three sumptuous goals to see off Kashiwa Reysol, all from outside the penalty area, all finessed with plenty of Brazilian swerve. But it was no pushover, and they had to resist periods of Japanese pressure to make sure of their date with Barcelona. Ramalho, who by nature does not have the most expansive of coaching philosophies, conceded they needed to improve to make an impression on the European champions. Santos won the Copa Libertadores in June, but 10th place in the Brazilian championship suggests they have not been particularly focused this year.

"This tournament is very important for me and my team-mates and we want to win this tournament very much," said Neymar, the Brazilian league's player of the year. If they manage it against Barcelona, emulating the Santos of old who won the Intercontinental Cup in the 1960s with the help of Pelé, the hype machine will surely flick into overdrive.





 

[h=2]Manchester City v Arsenal, 4:10pm Sunday 18 December[/h] [h=1]Arsène Wenger will not rule out Arsenal loan return for Thierry Henry[/h] • Club's record goalscorer could be re-registered in January
• Gervinho and Chamakh will be going to Africa Cup of Nations




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Thierry Henry, now 34, is training with Arsenal and could be signed on a short-term loan by Arsène Wenger. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Arsène Wenger will not rule out a loan move for Thierry Henry from the New York Red Bulls. Arsenal's record goalscorer, who is training with his former club during the MLS close seasonhas been the subject of repeated inquiries from the media throughout his reappearance at the club's headquarters at London Colney. On Friday and Wenger seemed yesteron Friday to have softened in his stance to re-signing him. morning, his former manager and mentor shifted his response from outright dismissive to evasively ambivalent.
"It has to come through my brain at some stage but I haven't been concrete on the case," said Wenger,. He was much more emphatic about the issue of whether or not Henry would still be able to cut it in the Premier League at the age of 34: "Yes".
The matter of bringing in another striker, even temporarily, is urgent, as in January Arsenal will lose two of their attackers, Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh, for potentially seven weeks as they head off for the Africa Cup of Nations. Even if he stays clear of injury, Robin van Persie will need a rest at some stage over the winter schedule.
The only other options are Park Chu-young, who has not played a minute of Premier League football, pushing Andrey Arshavin, who has scored one league goal this season, into an emergency striker role, or to move Theo Walcott inside from the wide position that has been productive so far this term.
There is a certain logic in registering Henry in that there would obviously be no adaptation period to worry about.
Wenger admitted that he is yet to bring up the idea of a loan with either Henry or the New York Red Bulls. "I haven't even investigated that," he said. But he is open to investigation.
 
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[TD="class: mainStory"]Samata's Mazembe to face Yanga

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SBL announces ‘Tusker Malt Waitara Trophy' sponsorship
Correct attitude a prerequisite for success, says tennis expert
Simba intensify league preparations
Samata's Mazembe to face Yanga
League to erase Stars' misery
Isles clubs falter in regional handball meet
Msondo, Sikinde camp for Christmas clash
Dar es Salaam lady cricketers ready to conquer Kampala
Davis Cup team enters camp in Tanga
Moshi brace for Nyerere international volleyball tourney
Pemba, Unguja ladies march into Taifa Cup basketball quarters
CECAFA matches fetch 267m/-
Minister Nchimbi appoints national dress committee
FIFA kicks off major Grassroots Development programme in Dar es Salaam
TFF warned Simba on Basena
Gymkhana edge Upanga in Independence Anniversary friendly
Milovan hails young players
Under-19 girls praised after lifting African trophy
Poulsen hits out at TFF
Mkwasa: Stars was weak without Z'bar players
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By CLECENCE KUNAMBI, 15th December 2011 @ 10:41, Total Comments: 0, Hits: 162

MAINLAND Champions Young Africans are set to play former African Champions TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a friendly match next year.

Both sides will be using the match to prepare for the Africa Champions League, where Yanga have been given a date with Egyptian giants Zamalek. Yanga will host the Egyptians in the preliminary round of the 16th Africa Champions League on the weekend of February 17 to 19 in Dar es Salaam and the return leg match will be on the weekend of March 2 to 4.

And the friendly against Mazembe will pave the way for former Simba striker Mbwana Samata and his team mates including skilled striker Tresor Mputu to test the ability of Kostadin Papic's side.

The Dar es Salaam giants have also listed friendly matches against Power Dynamos of Zambia, Telecom of Malawi, Uganda's URA and Sofapaka of Kenya, on dates to be announced later as the Jangwani Street side seeks to kill the jinx against the Egyptian sides.

Yanga have always struggled against the Egyptian sides in all competitions. Yanga Information Officer Luis Sendeu promised journalists yesterday that the team will be given good preparation for the task ahead.

"It is a big test, but it is a challenge we really relish and we are excited coming up against a team of Zamalek stature. We believe these friendly matches will give our team enough experience and confidence to face Zamalek and kick them out of the Champions League," said Sendeu.

Serbian Coach Kostadin Papic has already expressed his wary of their opponents and is expected to come up with a tight training programme to keep his lads in shape ahead of the gruelling preliminary round hurdle.

Papic said that Yanga will be ready to face the Zamalek, which is among the best teams in Africa and have just recently celebrated their 100th Anniversary. "History is not always anything to go by and we agree the fact that Zamalek are the best team in Africa.

We relish a challenge to facing them. It will also give us a best opportunity to test ourselves against the top side in Africa," he said. Yanga would be required to repeat the feat attained by their archrivals Simba in 2003, who saw off Zamalek, who were the then defending African Champions and marched into the last eight of the continental first tier club championship.

Despite wide expectations among its faithful, Yanga have time and again failed to make progress in Champions League with an exceptional of 1997, when they managed to reach the group stage. Two years ago, Yanga were comprehensively beaten 4-0 by the then Egyptian champions Ahly in the two-legged Champions League affair.

They lost 3-0 courtesy of two goals from Mohamed Barakat and one from Angolan forward Flavio in the first leg, second round tie in Cairo before going down to a Flavio's lone goal in a return leg match in Dar es Salaam. Should Yanga manage to go past Zamalek, they will face the winner of the match between Missile of Gabon and Africa Sport of Cote d'Ivoire on the weekend of March 23 to 25 and a return leg match two weeks later.[/TD]
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[h=1]Hail the punditry of Gary Neville, a new king in town[/h] Others football pundits entertain accidentally, but the former Manchester United player is absorbing simply by being himself



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Nasally insistent, relentlessly illuminating, Gary Neville the pundit has become oddly unignorable. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian

Football pundits have long been an upwardly mobile species. This is a hungry breed, a lineage of strident, well-groomed men for whom a sense of sofa-lolling entitlement has recently given way to outright historical ascendancy. This process has been marked by visible changes. In presentational terms there has been an ascent-of-man-style rise from sallow, kipper-tied, brown-suited figures enthroned behind looming wood veneer desks. Through a more recent period of vaulting modernity where the furniture shrunk back, desks became lighted coffee tables, and suddenly knees and even ankles were exposed, stools perched upon daintily, the pundit revealed in his full-frontal glory. Most recently the football pundit has gone a step further, rising up on to his hind legs and striding about the studio, fully erect, conducting with both arms his swooshing super-machines.
This season, change has come in other areas too. This weekend Sky Sports' chief pundit Gary Neville will preside over a Super Sunday triple-decker mega-bill that promises six whole hours of total football-talk. If there is something unusual in this it is that with Neville in the chair it is possible, finally, to actually quite look forward to this bit, those long, idling moments in between where there is no actual football, just the spectacle of men talking urgently about football. Neville has solidified in recent weeks, losing his ferrety callow quality, turning towards the camera instead a full-face belligerence, a relentless and moreish zeal. I think we can say it now: there's a new sheriff in town, a new king-pundit. And maybe the pundit is about to enter another of his furtive growth spurts.
I always secretly liked Neville as a player, too. In his recent book he described his own England career as "a massive waste of time", but it wasn't always like that. Witness for example the notable high of his performance in England's defeat by Argentina at France 98, where Neville surged with bow-legged fury the length of his touchline, a waddling English Cafu. Albeit it was easy to forget all this later on as his interpretation of the role of full-back was increasingly as a form of obstruction, an immobile object to be skirted warily, like a dying dalek.
His waspishness has always been evident, as has a subtle quality of outsiderdom. There is a story about the old lags at United laughing out of their car windows at the sight of the young Neville staying behind after training to practise throw-ins on his own against a wall while they all sidled off to some appalling shag-carpeted lounge bar. And it is this cussed, puritanical, quietly nonconformist brio that is his great asset, a line in quiet iconoclasm that is now being applied to the role of pundit.
It seems increasingly that Neville may be doing actual research; that his approach to punditry may involve a rare desire to actually tell you interesting things you didn't know about football. And amid the bombast of Sky's plastic triumphalism, there is a quality in him of restrained preacherly zeal, the brusqueness of an ambitious young parish curate or a strident Scottish schoolmaster with a flaringly adamant moustache.
There are plenty of other entertaining pundits. I always enjoy watching Robbie Earle, for example, if only for his heroic air of crisis management, the lingering suspicion that he is being held hostage and forced to talk in a slow patient voice about banks of four and midfield runners but is responding with great calm and quiet dignity and will probably win some kind of civilian bravery award when this is all over. I like Jamie Redknapp for his thigh‑chafing eagerness, the burbling stream of consciousness through which nuggets of jangling coherence will suddenly burst and then evaporate in a puppyish confusion. I also like Glenn Hoddle, mainly because he often seems to have wandered in from the world next door where they use words differently and it's normal to say things like: "They've gone backwards-facing. The distances are good, but the movement needs a front-pivot." I even miss John Barnes as an anchorman; he seemed pleasantly argumentative and speaks so rapidly it is as though someone has spilt a glass of water on the autocue keyboard and he is being forced to read out things like "hello and soknonfonnmbnbdjhbdjinocf".
Neville is different, though. Others entertain accidentally, but he is absorbing simply by being himself. I have a theory that one day TV pundits will be considered just as important as managers, driving as they do the great continental engines, the wheezing bellows of football's surging public opinion. Perhaps they already are, judging by André Villas-Boas's carefully strategised public response this week to Neville's amusing suggestion that David Luiz has been playing like he is being "controlled by a 10-year-old in the crowd on a PlayStation".
It is tempting to condemn this overlap between the real and the televised as yet another example of the secondary business of talking about football usurping the real business of actually playing it. But so central are the currents of public perception, so powerful the tidal pressures of televised opinion on top-level football that it seems inevitable the two must eventually coalesce into a twin-headed public theatre. Nasally insistent, relentlessly illuminating, Neville has become oddly unignorable of late. This already sounds like progress.
 
[h=1]Friday's gossip column - transfers and rumours[/h]
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For updated transfer news and gossip throughout the day, read our breaking news service Sportsday Live
TRANSFER GOSSIP
Chelsea are considering making a move for Napoli and Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani, who is also a reported target of Manchester City.
Full story: talkSPORT
Serie A leaders Juventus are eager to buy Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia in January but the Reds are not interested in selling. Full story: Daily Mirror
United team-mate Federico Macheda will leave the club for a team on the continent in January, according to his agent.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Meanwhile, United are set to offer €30m for Benfica midfielder 23-year-old Nicolas Gaitan, who helped knock the Reds out of the Champions League.
Full story: Olé (in Spanish)
Burnley, Derby County and Bristol City are set to fight it out over a loan deal for United midfielder Darron Gibson.
Full story: Independent
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has admitted that he may lose Cheick Tiote in the January transfer window with Chelsea and Arsenal believed to be interested.
Full story: Daily Mail
But Pardew has revealed that Mike Ashley has given him the green light to bring in a new centre-back in the transfer window.
Full story: Newcastle Chronicle
Arsenal will watch Germany striker Lukas Podolski as Arsene Wenger weighs up a £15m January move.
Full story: Daily Mail
West Brom have agreed an undisclosed fee with Dundee United for midfielder Scott Allan.
Full story: Express & Star
West Ham are locked in a battle with Borussia Monchengladbach as they look to sign Barcelona striker Jonathan Soriano.
Full story: talkSPORT
Tottenham have beaten Manchester United to the £6.5m signing of AZ Alkmaar's Swedish midfielder Rasmus Elm.
Full story: Expressen (in Swedish)

OTHER GOSSIP
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas hopes the Blues avoid AC Milan in the Champions League draw.
Full story: Evening Standard
Former Italian Prime Minister and AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi says Carlos Tevez can be the best player in the world if he moves to the San Siro.
Full story: The Sun
Michael O'Neill is expected to be interviewed for the vacant Northern Ireland manager's job in the early part of next week after his final game in charge of Shamrock Rovers in the 4-0 defeat to Tottenham.
Full story: Guardian
Arsenal youngster Francis Coquelin wants to make his mark at Emirates Stadiumdespite interest from French club Lille.
Full story: talkSPORT
AND FINALLY
Mario Balotelli's training ground spat with Manchester City team-mate Micah Richards was apparently sparked by a stray pass.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Former England midfielder Peter Reid has "kissed and made up" with Argentina's Diego Maradona over the "Hand of God" goal which helped knock England out of the 1986 World Cup finals.
Full story: Daily Mail
 

[h=2]QPR v Manchester United, noon Sunday 18 December[/h] [h=1]Manchester United will not buy in January, says Sir Alex Ferguson[/h] • United manager refuses to press panic button over injuries
• Teenager Paul Pogba told move to Inter would be a mistake




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The agent of 18-year-old Paul Pogba is pressing for a financially rewarding move to Internazionale or Manchester City. Photograph: John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images

Despite enduring his worst injury crisis in more than a decade, Sir Alex Ferguson says he will not use next month's transfer window to reinforce his squad.
Manchester United approach the Christmas period without three key central midfielders: Anderson, Darren Fletcher and Tom Cleverley. With the club captain, Nemanja Vidic, out for the rest of the season and the striker, Javier Hernández, sidelined for at least a couple of weeks; this is the most serious injury list Ferguson has had to contend with since the 1997-98 season that saw Arsenal overtake a threadbare, makeshift squad to secure Arsène Wenger his first Premier League title.
In addition, the midfielder Paul Pogba, perhaps the most talented member of the side who won the FA Youth Cup last season, is out of contract in the summer and is already flirting with a move to either Internazionale or Manchester City.
"It is how you handle the situation," said Ferguson, who dismissed the idea of asking Paul Scholes, who has continued to train since announcing his retirement, to make a comeback. "Buying in January has seldom been a route we have taken. Unless a player we have always been interested in comes along – and there is no sign of that at the moment – it is not suitable for us."
The only major deals Ferguson has done in recent mid-seasons have been signing Vidic and Patrice Evra in January 2006, in the aftermath of Manchester United's previous failure in the Champions League groups, and the arrival of Henrik Larsson on a brief loan spell the following year.
"We are not going to panic; we have enough experience among the staff to cope with these things," Ferguson said. "We still have players who can wear the red jersey and they will wear it with complete confidence. Vidic's character and energy are a loss. Darren is a big-game player, he is a loss, but we have enough players who have experienced everything that is coming in the second half of the season.
"We had a bad experience when we lost the league to Arsenal when we were 11 points clear. We had a tremendous injury list. Nobody could name the team we had to put out when Arsenal beat us 1-0 [at Old Trafford in March 1998]."
Fletcher has been in hospital undergoing treatment for ulcerative colitis, a debilitating condition whose symptoms include severe vomiting and diarrhoea. His lack of appearances at the start of the season were put down to a virus by the club to protect patient confidentiality. Ferguson admitted that the true extent of the 27-year-old's condition was released at the player's request after journalistic inquiries into the exact nature of the virus began to be made in his native Scotland.
The loss of Pogba, an 18-year-old whom United took from Le Havre in controversial circumstances two years ago, would be a severe blow as he has attracted comparisons to a young Patrick Vieira. Ferguson publicly warned Pogba that, if he were seeking an early cash windfall from Inter or Manchester City, he risked finishing up disappointed.
"He has an agent who has become a bit difficult," he said. "We have been negotiating with him but, if he doesn't want to stay, there is not a lot you can do about it.
"Matt Busby summed it up perfectly when he said that you don't need to chase money at a club like Manchester United. It will eventually find you. You will earn money and become rich. They can chase the money early in their career but at the end it won't be the same as if he had stayed here. He just has to look around him to know where his future lies."
 
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